My heart is full

My heart is full. I’m at the sunset of my last day at the NASSP conference, and I feel energized, supported, and proud. When I come to this conference, I’m with "my people"... school leaders who are trying to do great things for their staff and students. 

While school leaders, district administrators, and some teachers attend the NASSP conference each year, the main topics seem to revolve around leadership issues. I love being a school leader, and I want to continually get better at what I do, which is why I love that leadership topics are a focus of the conference.  

At the close of this year’s conference as I reflect on the fast 3 days of greeting, meeting, sharing, learning, and laughing, it’s hard to express in words the gratitude I have for so many adults that stand up for kids and create incredible experiences for their students. I feel blessed to be in a profession that has the opportunity to be a positive change in someone’s life. I also feel fortunate to be connected with so many educators whose beliefs are the same. 

I feel blessed to be in a profession that has the opportunity to be a positive change in someone’s life. I also feel fortunate to be connected with so many educators whose beliefs are the same. 

Two years ago, I “met” Craig Vroom on twitter and as we got to know each other, we created a group for edu-bloggers called the Compelled Bloggers Community. We’ve been working together for the past two years, and we didn’t meet in person until Thursday morning! 

 Craig and I presenting "Bravely Blogging for Impact and Community Building" at NASSP

What a cool experience to physically meet someone that you feel like you already know. And as you can guess, it was as if were reuniting with each other rather than meeting for the first time. 

When I hear about Glenn Robbins holding an Edcamp daily for his students or Jason Markey, who not only shadowed a student for a day, but spent time in a teacher’s classroom for an entire unit in order to better remember what it was like to be a student, it gets me excited about possibilities and motivates me to do more for our students. 

Jeff Zoul and Jimmy Casas always have a smile! 

When Jimmy Casas and Jeff Zoul remind us that one of the 10 trust factors is to address underperformance, and Todd Whitaker advises us to make every decision based on the best teachers, it reminds me that leadership can be hard but the rewards are awesome. 

When I hear positive stories about educators in public schools across the country, it makes me proud of the work that we do and the impact that we make in not only in the lives of children but in the lives of each other. 

Celebrating educators with Craig Vroom, Bobby Dodd, Neil Gupta & Mickey

My first support system is my family. I’m also blessed to have a support system in my school and community as well as across the globe. THANK YOU to all of you who inspire, encourage, nudge, and care for each other. 

THANK YOU to all of you who inspire, encourage, nudge, and care for each other. 

My cup runneth over. If you are in a place where you need support, please reach out to me. We must lift each other up!